Wonderful, it's summer. The world always looks just a little brighter when the sun shines. Beautiful colors and wonderful smells. Enjoy this warm season and a carefree summer atmosphere even more with the following tips for home.
Vacation has never been so close
Pick a lush bouquet
Less than fifteen minutes by bike from downtown is the New Dordtse Biesbosch. This nature reserve has an extensive network of hiking and biking trails. A great place to go on a summer day. While you're there, don't forget to visit the Harvest Park for a drink with some goodies to go and a beautiful lush bouquet of flowers you picked yourself. The picking paradise is open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. In July and August, the flowers are in full bloom and visitors can browse for just €6.95. Compose the most beautiful bouquets yourself? Do of course and enjoy the colors and scents for days to come. All income from the Harvest Park goes to maintaining the grounds.
38 flavors of Italian ice cream
What could be more delicious on a hot sunny day than a deliciously fresh artisanally prepared Italian ice cream? Exactly, and what a choice at La Venezia, the oldest existing ice cream parlor in Dordrecht. No less than 38 flavors are offered by owner and ice cream maker Paolo Gervasio in his cozy and iconic parlor on the Vest with a waterfront terrace. All the ice cream is made with love according to original Italian recipe in the back of the store. Have visitors on a summer day? Surprise them by picking up a couple of family-sized trays of Italian ice cream. Drive fast to avoid melting. In very hot weather, the ice cream maker recommends a fruit flavor. Blood orange, apple, melon, passion fruit, banana, and he could go on and on. Malaga and pistachio always do well, too. And did we know that the fresh crepes and waffles are also good to go and pair wonderfully with the ice cream?
Toast with a summer gin-tonic
Tips for festive summer drinks on one's garden or balcony terrace Aileen Bogaarts of Rutte effortlessly shakes out of her sleeve. "A cooling gin tonic with the award-winning Dutch Dry Gin. Or the summer tip displayed outside on the board: the Old Tom Genever (recipe from 1918 by Anton Rutte) with Fever Tree Clementine Tonic (a fresh tonic with tangerine)." Especially for the summer, the distillery is offering beautiful promotional packages of gin and genever combined with different flavors of tonic and also ginger ale. This year is an anniversary year, Rutte is 150 years old and made the Old Simon Jubilee for this occasion. The malt wine of this unique Old Simon Genever has spent five years in barrels and also has extra nut extract. Fans of this jubilee edition will have to be patient for quite a while. The first batches were sold out at lightning speed. The last batch will follow in September and then it will really be gone. But fortunately we still have the other gins and genevers. By the way, also ideal for a summer cocktail. Cheers: to summer!
